I Will Always Love You
by depth
Summary: They had once been forced to leave each other. Now fate had brought them together again. But, this time, with even more complications than before. Will their love prevail? D/G *New Chap 3/1*
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:  I do not own Harry Potter.  All Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

**_I Will Always Love You_**

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**_Prologue_**

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**"Love is a hidden fire, A pleasant sore, A delicious poison, A delectable pain, An agreeable torment, A sweet and throbbing wound, A gentle death." - Fernando de Pujas**

"So, did you miss me?"

Twisting around, Virginia Weasley peered at the person standing behind her.  A stunning man with crystal blue-gray eyes and gleaming white-blond hair was smiling wryly at her.  He seemed perfect and immaculate, except for the way his hands were shoved awkwardly in his black coat pockets, revealing anxiety and tenseness.  Dressed in all black, Draco Malfoy seemed very out of place.  In spite of this, he was unconcerned about how he might have looked in his surroundings.

"Nah.  Not really."

Most people would have been stunned by the seemingly careless riposte, as not many dared to speak in such a casual manner towards a Malfoy.  However, Virginia was not most people.

"You didn't," Draco mused.

"No.  In fact, I was happy about your disappearance.  Why are you here?"

Virginia Weasley was a very blunt woman.  Having worked in a bookstore for five years, she was not the type to beat around the bush for answers, especially regarding those silly little questions about certain romance books that usually induced little girls into blushing while attempting to inquire about said books.

"Ah, well.  You see, I got bored from my trip to New York.  Not much was there.  So I decided to come back."

"Hmph," Virginia scoffed, "What? There were no purebloods in New York for you to fuck, is that it? Is that why you're back?  You got bored?"

"Well...not necessarily.  I just missed ol' Diagon Alley.  That's all."

Virginia sneered, "Of course, _Dracie."_

Draco winced, "You know I don't like that name."

Virginia shrugged.  "That's why I like to call you that."  Moving away from Draco, Virginia resumed her task of organizing the books on the bookshelves.

"Gin!  Talk to me!"  Draco pleaded.

"Why should I?  You leave for two years without a word or notice and suddenly you're back?  If it weren't for Pansy Parkinson and her gossip, I never would have known where you went.  Did you know how worried I was?"  Virginia exploded with a yell.  

Draco was shocked.  "You...you were worried?"

"Well of course! Why wouldn't I be.  I thought you were killed or something."   Unwilling to show Draco how much she suffered when he was gone, Virginia tossed Draco a threatening glance and returned to her previous job.

"Gin, please," Draco begged.  He grasped the corner of her sleeve.

"Please what? Leave me alone."  Virginia twisted away.

Seeing how Virginia wouldn't respond to his pleas, Draco became irate.  "It's not like I didn't try to come back!  It's not my fault my father wanted me to marry some prissy girl!  Don't try to make this sound like it's my fault.  If it weren't for your reluctance to introduce yourself to my parents, none of this would have happened," he growled.

"Hah!  They would have a heart attack.  Honestly, can you imagine what they would look like when they find out that their son was meeting a muggle-lover?"  Virginia snorted.

"So?  It's not like you are muggleborn!  The Weasleys, just like the Malfoys, are known for their pure bloodedness in their families.  Even though your family is not...exactly as wealthy as mine, your family remains well-respected and your lineage can be traced at least back a thousand years!"

Virginia let out a short bark of laughter. "Hah, not as wealthy.  Try dirt poor!  I am poor, Draco, you can say it.  This is the reason why we cannot be together.  We are from two completely different classes."  There had been a time when little Ginny Weasley had been embarrassed to admit her membership in the Weasley family.  Discomfited to be walking down the corridors of Hogwarts in hand-me-down robes, Virginia had been afraid to declare that her family was, indeed, deprived of money.  However, time had cured her from her unhappiness of such hardship during her years as the youngest Weasley.  For her family had something that many other families lacked, love and happiness.

"Ginny!" Draco cried in a fit of desperation.

"Don't Ginny me!  Tell me, are you really going to marry your," Virginia paused as if something had left a bad taste in her mouth, "_fiancée?_"

"Well..." Draco hesitated.

"Hmph," Virginia scoffed. "So you haven't annulled your engagement. When are you planning to marry her?"

"I've...put it off."

Virginia let out a small bitter chuckle. "And after all we've been through, all you've promised me, you say you've...put it off?  Sure Draco, let your parents take over your life.  See if I care.  After all, it isn't me who had broken our vows to each other, it is _you._"  Utterly frustrated with this conversation, Virginia turned to walk away again.

"Please!" Draco hurried forward and attempted to stop her averting. He grasped her arm and tilted her chin towards his face. "Gin, please give me a chance."

"Why should I? When would we actually be able to be together, Draco?  I am not willing to wait forty years until I am withered and old.  I _can't_ wait that long.  I can't wait until your rich wife dies for us to be together.  It's either marry her or defy your parents," Virginia declared, voicing her only view in this matter. "As much as I," Virginia's voice broke slightly, "love you, I can't wait forever.  You know that, Draco."

Draco looked uncomfortable.  Inside, he was facing his inner turmoil concerning his love for her.  He knew he would not hesitate in running off with her and marrying her if not for the threatening repercussions that were imminent if he and Virginia were to marry.

"Gin," Draco attempted to reason with her again. "You know that I can't run off with you.  You know why!  I can't risk your life for my happiness!  I refuse!"  The desperate and helpless feelings were palpable in this man.

"And what, Draco, and should we both be unhappy and suffer?  I'd rather try to escape and be together and live a fulfilled, albeit short life.  You know that old saying, 'It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?'  Well right now I think that quote makes a lot of sense."

"But..."

**_*Flashback*_**

"I love you Ginny," A seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy said to the red-haired girl next to him.  He looked down at her sweetly smiling face and knew that he was wholly, hopelessly, and completely in love.  He did not remember when he fell in love, but from the precious memories he obtained from his mind he evoked his feelings of possessive protectiveness when he learnt of her innocence.  Despite of people's rumors of the Chamber of Secrets and her involvement in it, Ginny Weasley remained innocent and unknowing of the world's terrors.  Perhaps it was because her mother and her brothers had done a too great a job in endeavoring to defend her from the harsh truths of the real world, but no matter the reason, Ginny continued to be uncorrupted, even at the ripe age of sixteen.

He remembered his feelings of tenderness to the girl, the inability to hurt her physically and emotionally, and the utter faith he placed in her.

"I love you too Draco," Unbeknownst to Draco's feelings of immediate heartwarming gratification at her words, Ginny returned his words with a simple and innocent intonation.  It was almost reflex-like.  She had always readily returned these words, although this was the first time she voiced them to someone she regarded from a romantic viewpoint. 

Draco experienced many things when he heard those words from his first and only love.  He felt not only gratification, but also exhilaration and delight.  He felt elated and joyous.  He felt like he could jump up and down announcing to everyone he came across that not just anyone, but _Ginny Weasley_ loved him.  He never had such profound moments such as this one before, and it had affected him greatly.  It had rocked him to his core, and changed the most basic beliefs he had of the world.

She never found out how much those words meant to him.

**_*End Flashback*_**

Draco faltered in his words when he recalled their memories together as teens.  However, he scowled when he came upon another memory.  This one ensured their separation from each other.

**_*Flashback*_**

"Draco, my boy, come over here," Lucius Malfoy said as he extended one long finger and tapped the chair next to him elegantly.

Draco was reluctant to go to his father.  Seated comfortably in his seat, Draco had no wish to remove himself from the cozy seat.  The chair was in a good position, Draco mused – it was in the opposite corner from which Lucius sat.  But, however reluctant Draco might be, Draco knew he could not disobey his father, even in the simplest of orders.

So, Draco forced himself upright and walked to his father.  Lowering himself slowly onto the chair, Draco's eyes never strayed from his father.

"Well, Draco.  Do you know what I'm going to talk to you about?" Lucius questioned.

"Um...it has to do with my grades?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"Wrong, my boy.  I have to talk about that red-haired _Weasley,_" Lucius spitted out as if it were the nastiest words on earth, "and how you have been disgracing yourself by associating with her.  If I hear one more word about her and you together, you may not find the results most pleasing.  Make no mistake Draco, and I will not repeat myself.  Do you understand?"

"I understand," Draco replied quietly.  Most people would have been horrified by the implications of Lucius Malfoy's deliberate words.  Yet Draco was not most people – he was Lucius' son.  He understood his father perfectly.  Such was the way Lucius spoke to his son, full of threats that were not so obvious to the more oblivious minds.

"Good Draco." Lucius' tone softened a slightly, "You are seventeen, Draco.  You are going to graduate soon. I do not wish to see you waste your time with such muggle-loving trash.  Do not involve yourself with such rubbish, or _she_ may just not graduate from Hogwarts, at all."

Draco had to repress an urge to argue with his father.  Teeth clenched, his hate for his father seemed so palpable and clear in the air.  He watched as Lucius waved an uncaring hand at him, dismissing him.  Without a word, Draco rose from the chair, and walked out promptly through the door.

**_*End Flashback*_**

Shaking himself slightly from his brief reveries, Draco said earnestly, "You know I love you Ginny.  I always will.  But I have to protect you.  Can't you understand that?  Because I love you so much, I can't let you die."

Aggravated, Virginia shouted, "Bullshit!  That is just pretty words that you _spewed_ to excuse you from escaping into the world with me.  They are not words that were supposed to make me feel better, they are just words that would ease _your_ conscience!  Why Draco?  Why coming back to me? Go back to your rich fiancée!"

"Because I love you!" Draco finally shouted.

Virginia suddenly seemed deflated. "If you really do, then why can't we be together?"  She whispered.

"You know why, Gin..." 

"Yes I do.  So I guess this is goodbye."  Sadly, Virginia looked up at Draco.  Being only five feet three, Draco towered over her at six feet one.  Averting her gaze, Virginia pinpointed her eyes at the books behind Draco.

"Virginia?" Draco's heart painfully clenched.

"What?" Virginia said quietly.  She glanced at him briefly. This short glance revealed the nearly dried path of a single teardrop on his face.

Wordlessly, Draco softly trailed the back of his fingers down her face.  Slowly, he lowered his face to hers, and pressed his mouth softly against hers.  With a moan, their kiss began to grow in passion with every passing second.  Their tongues tangled and clashed.  Virginia's knees buckled at the sheer intensity of their kiss.  She was only kept upright by Draco who drew her closer to him. However, the kiss did not last long.  After a short moment, Draco released Virginia from his clutch. Stumbling back a few steps, Draco touched Virginia's lips tenderly. 

"I will always love you," Draco promised as he gave her one last loving look.  With a pop, he apparated.

"Draco..."

_This may be the last thing that I write for long_

_Can you hear me smiling when I sing this song, for you, and only you._

_As I leave will you be someone to say good-bye?_

_As I leave will you be someone to wipe your eye?_

_My foot is out the door, and you can't stop me, now_

_You wanted the best, it wasn't me_

_Will you give it back, now I'll take the lead_

_When there's no more room to make it grow_

_I'll see you again; you'll pretend you're naive_

_Is this what you want_

_Is this what you need_

_How you end up let me know._

_As I go, remember all the simple things you know,_

_My mind is just a crutch and I still hope_

_That you will miss me when I'm gone_

_This is the last song_

_The hearts start breaking as the year is gone_

_The dream's beginning and the time rolls on_

_It seems so surreal, now I sing it._

_Somehow I knew that it would be this way,_

_Somehow I knew that it would slowly fade._

_Now I'm gone, just try and stop me, now._

_You wanted the best, it wasn't me_

_Will you give it back, now I'll take the lead_

_When there's no more room to make it grow_

_I'll see you again, you'll pretend you're naive_

_Is this what you want_

_Is this what you need_

_How you end up let me know._

_As I go, remember all the simple things you know,_

_My mind is just a crutch and I still hope_

_That you will miss me when I'm gone_

_This is the last song_

_And will you need me now_

_You'll find a way somehow_

_You want it too_

_I want it too_

_As I go, remember all the simple things you know,_

_My mind is just a crutch and I still hope_

_That you will miss me when I'm gone_

_This is the last song_

_~"The Last Song" The All-American Rejects_

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Please review! Thanks!


	2. Ch 1: The One

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.  It is all Rowling's work.

A/N:  Yep, I've decided to continue the story!

**_Chapter One:  The One_**

_He felt the weight of her sad gaze before she had even said the words.  _

_"Yes I do.  So I guess this is goodbye."  _

_Glancing down at her, the words that she had uttered had torn his heart in two.  However, he knew what was about to ensue was inevitable.  Unfortunately, it was the only choice.  Heart clenching, he could not stop the impending tears that were threatening to drop.  He only managed to articulate one word._

_"Virginia?"_

_"What?" He heard her quiet reply.  He saw her eyes widen a fraction when she glimpsed the drying tear on his face.   Unable to speak anymore, he opted to touch her face lightly.  When he felt the softness, he could not help himself, and bent down to kiss her.  He lost himself in the fervent passion, but only for a moment.  Restraining himself, Draco staggered back away from her._

_Feeling as if he must say something else before he left, he promised, "I will always love you."  _

_It was a promise he felt he could hold true to.  Nevertheless, he did not prepare himself for the most affecting and heartrending vision.  He experienced true grief as he apparated. _

_The last sight he saw of her was the figure of a young woman looking at him helplessly, and so sad that her gaze was glassy and unfocused._

Gasping for breath, Draco Malfoy heaved himself upwards.  Sweat was clinging onto his face.  Breathing deeply, he attempted to retain his equilibrium.

"Draco, honey, are you alright?"  A woman's soft hand eased over his brow.  The other hand rested on Draco's shoulder, supporting him upright.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  It's just a nightmare.  Go to sleep," He replied.  He let himself be lowered back to his bed.  The woman brushed her fingers across his bare chest as she settled down as well.

Waiting until the woman's breathing eased, Draco swung himself up from the bed.  Flinging on a green silk robe, he entered the bathroom.  He flicked on the light-switch.  The bathroom was styled in high-quality marble, with a huge Jacuzzi tub and mirrors that surrounded the whole room.  Smiling dryly to himself, he wondered why he had ever decided to have such a bathroom.  Then, he remembered Alyssa's incessant begging, imploring him to order for such an impressive bathroom.  Of course, he hadn't complained once, for he remembered the comfort that the tub provided, especially after the tiring work at the Ministry of Magic.

Thinking wistfully to himself, he wondered if Ginny ever had experienced such luxury in a bathroom.  Immediately, he smacked himself on the head on the inside.  He questioned himself as to why he still thought about her.  Two years had passed, and he had heard of no news about her.  At least no news that were interesting enough to make the _Daily Prophet_, anyway.

Sighing, Draco peered at the mirror in front of the sink.  He winced.  He looked like hell.  Dark circles encompassed the area around his eyes, and his cheek had such sunken looks to them that it seemed incredibly pallid.  Again, he wondered how he was going to work tomorrow.  Lately, work had become extremely arduous.  He usually stayed in office long after everybody else had left, as working in the Department of Mysteries was no easy task.

He turned on the faucet, and splashed some water onto his face.  Looking into the mirror again, he grimaced.  Not only was his face colorless and pasty, it was also blotchy on the forehead from the excessive sweating.  Draco frowned at his reflection.

Assessing himself in the mirror once more, Draco decided to return to bed.  Climbing back into the lavish silk bed he shared with his wife, he gazed fondly at her sleeping form.  Although he was reluctant to marry her, he found that his parents' choice wasn't so bad.  She wasn't hard to tolerate after all.  She was not who he expected to be, needless to say.  Lucius and Narcissa had been so persistent in his marriage to her that he had finally given in.  However, he was surprised when he discovered her animosity towards him.  He just didn't expect her to oppose to the marriage as well.  He had always thought everybody wanted to be related to the Malfoys.  Well, perhaps Alyssa's parents did, since they coerced her into this marriage that lacked love.

It was not until two months after their marriage that they started to talk to each other on sociable terms.  Still, their conversations were still cool and remote.  Nearly a year ago, sixth months after their marriage, they began to get along, having a relationship close to friendship, but closer to equal partnership, especially when it dealt with business ventures.  And it was only four months ago, that they started to share an intimate relationship.  It was then, that Draco had became a frequent receiver of nightmares.

It wasn't nightmares, per se, but sweet memories of him and Ginny, as they often pervaded his mind.  He and Ginny having a cute picnic out on the courtyards of Hogwarts, their thoughtful study dates that were more than just studying, and of course, their appealing yet forbidden meetings in school closets and tall, impersonal towers.  It was lately, that he started having dreams of their breakup, and less and less of sweet and happy memories.  

He ascribed his dreams to be the result of his guilt that had started surfacing when he felt he was finally getting over their breakups.  At least, he no longer appeared at work depressed and quiet, and instead became outgoing and talkative.  He didn't doubt it was contributed by the addition of Alyssa and the intimacy she had brought with her into his life.  After all, women often had that effect on men.

Nevertheless, a particular woman had never left his mind.  Ginny Weasley might not invade his psyche in the day, but at night, she occupied every bit of his mentality.  It was driving Draco crazy.  Just when he had thought he was getting over their breakup, she started nagging on his conscience again.  And every time she did, he felt his heart break a little more, and he felt his soul die a little more.  He knew he could not continue like this.  He loved her so much that even time and a different woman could not make him forget her.

Oh well, he must deal with it.  He was married to a wonderful woman who could help him with his job.  Even though he could not divulge to her the risky missions he was assigned from the Department of Mysteries, he was often aided by her during important business conferences.

Looking at the clock, Draco thought, _Damn_.  It was 3:45.  He burrowed deeper under his green silk sheets, trying to find a comfortable spot to fall asleep in.  

Tomorrow would be a long day.

*~*~*~*~*

**9:00 AM.  Department of Mysteries.  Ministry of Magic.**

Draco stood annoyed in front of his boss' desk.  Bir Ohannes was a sarcastic and tough man.  He had been head of the department for decades.  Bir was always strict to his employees.  Draco smiled.  Then again, so was he.  So much for letting the pot call the kettle black.

"What do you want, Ohannes?  I've been waiting here since 8:30, when you _requested _me, and you've _still haven't gotten off that damn muggle contraption," Draco asked, exasperated._

Bir shot him an evil glare.  Conversing on the phone for another few minutes, he finally said, "Okay, thank you Mr. Kevore.  I will call you back."  He hung up the phone.  He looked at Draco.  "Damn, young people are so impatient these days."

Draco snorted.  "Of course I was.  There's no way I'm waiting here for thirty minutes for no reason.  You'd better give me a reason as to why I was standing here for so long."

Bir smiled indulgently.  "Why, I was just giving you an assignment, when this _very _important call had interrupted our meeting."

"Yeah, yeah.  Sure, let's get on with it."

"All right."  Bir's tone turned serious. "You know the faction that appeared after Voldemort's fall?  The one that Nott and Flint are heading?  Usually they are too gutless to actually carry out any sort of a, ah let's say, a diabolical plan.  But lately I've been getting reports on how they have been asking around, targeting specific people, for _this_."

Taking a thick tome out of a drawer underneath his desk, Bir thrust it at Draco.  _The Book of the Eye, _Draco read on the cover.

"You know what this is?" Bir questioned Draco.

"I have no idea," he replied.

"Hmph, I've guessed as much," Bir grunted.  "Young people these days have no sort of knowledge.  Anyway, there is only about three of these books left in existence.  It is written by Rowena Ravenclaw and several other people, most particularly, _Seers.   It tells of their prophecies and other matters concerning divination.  Very boring, I tell you, since I actually tried to read it once.  But, one passage was about the conversion of muggles into mindless puppets that could perform magic."_

Interested, Draco arched his eyebrow.  "All right, so how is it done?  It had never been done before," he pointed out.

"Basically, to summarize it, this is a passage that deals with a vision a particular seer had foreseen.  The Seer wrote down the prophecy.  It goes like this," Bir said.  He recited,

_"The folk of non-magical blood shall transpose, _

_When the blood of the One is overran and emptied._

_The flaming deceiver, the seventh in the family_

_Of the greatest consanguinity, shall wilt._

_Enchanted will the quotidian bodies be, and used_,

_For the purpose of avarice and superlative power."_

Slightly stunned and very intrigued, Draco ran the lines of the prophecy through in his head again.  Having dealt with numerous predictions before, Draco was not a stranger to vague wordings.  Suddenly, with an abrupt and unexpected epiphany, Draco blurted out, "The flaming deceiver refers to a red weasel, right?"

[A/N: Just a side note, when one is called a weasel in an insult, it usually means that the "weasel" is a liar.  Not that Ginny is a liar or anything...but it's to make the prophecy vague.]

Bir nodded slowly.

Before Bir had spoken another word, Draco deducted, "The prophecy talks about the Weasleys!  The seventh child...Ginny Weasley!"

A little surprised by Draco's accurate supposition, Bir remarked, "Damn, we should have had you when we were trying to discover who was the One.  That was amazingly fast.  It took us a month to determine what you have just done in a few minutes."  Looking slightly aggrieved, Bir said, "What a waste of time."  

Paradoxically, what Bir did not know what the thought of Ginny Weasley had been in Draco's mind when Bir had narrated the prophecy.  It was no wonder how Draco came to this conclusion so swiftly.  
  


However, by this time, Draco was no longer paying attention to Bir's words.  He was frantic with worry.

"...Do...do Nott and Flint know this?  What are we going to do?  What about Ginny?"

"Relax!  Geez, slow down!  No, of course not.  Nott and Flint do not know this.   And what do you think we are going to do?  We are going to prevent Ginny Weasley from dying!  What about her?  Well, for one thing, she's still living and breathing, so there's no risk of the end of the existence of magical people."  Shooting a curious look at Draco, Bir wondered how the façade of Draco Malfoy was broken so quickly.  Things like this have always happened before, and Draco had not even lost one shred of composure. 

He resumed, "Anyways, this is why I have called you to my office.  I need you to guard her, Draco.  This is beyond the capabilities of the Aurors.  Only the agents of the Department of Mysteries can handle this. I want you, Draco, to protect her from the faction."

The blond-haired man had never been so flustered in his life.

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